And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein:

NUMBERS 29:7KJV
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Numbers 29:7 (KJV)

What does Numbers 29:7 mean?

Numbers 29:7 sets apart the tenth day of the seventh month as a solemn day for the people of Israel. They are to gather for a sacred assembly, humble themselves, and stop their work. The day is elsewhere called the Day of Atonement, a day associated with making the people clean from their sins before God.

God gives these instructions to Moses for the Israelites. The phrase “afflict your souls” calls for a serious act of self-denial; fasting is how the phrase has commonly been understood. The verse places that personal humility alongside a shared gathering.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 29:7

  • “convocation” — מִקְרָא (miqraʾ): This word refers to an assembly or a calling together. Here it describes a gathering set apart as holy, rather than an ordinary meeting.
  • “afflict” — עָנָה (ʿanah): This word can mean to humble or bring low. In this setting, it points to humbling oneself through self-denial.
  • “souls” — נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh): This word can refer to a person or a person’s life. In “afflict your souls,” the phrase concerns the people themselves, not only an inward part of them.

Why Numbers 29:7 matters

  • The date identifies a particular yearly observance. Leviticus 23:27 names the tenth day of the seventh month the Day of Atonement.
  • The order to stop work applies to the whole day. The verse says, “ye shall not do any work therein,” giving the people time set apart from their usual labor.
  • The gathering belongs within a larger set of instructions for the day. Numbers 29:8–11 gives the offerings to be presented, showing that the assembly and the offerings formed part of the same observance.

Where else these words appear

“tenth” Hebrew H6218 · used in 16 verses

  • Genesis 24:55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
  • Joshua 4:19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
  • Jeremiah 52:4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.

“convocation” Hebrew H4744 · used in 22 verses

  • Exodus 12:16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
  • Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
  • Numbers 28:25 And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.

“afflict” Hebrew H6031 · used in 80 verses

  • Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
  • Judges 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
  • Psalms 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

“seventh” Hebrew H7637 · used in 94 verses

  • Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
  • Leviticus 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
  • 1 Kings 18:44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.